'''''The Mewlips''''' is a nonsensical but eerie [[Hobbits|hobbit]] poem, appearing in the work ''[[The Adventures of Tom Bombadil]]'' by [[J.R.R. Tolkien]]. It concerns the ''Mewlips'', an imaginary race of evil creatures that feed on passers by, collecting their bones in a sack. The poem describes the long and lonely road needed to reach the Mewlips, travelling beyond the [[Merlock Mountains]], and through the marsh of Tode and the wood of "hanging trees and [[Gallows-Weed]]". None of these places appear on any of the maps.

'''''The Mewlips''''' is a nonsensical but eerie [[Hobbits|hobbit]] poem, appearing in the work ''[[The Adventures of Tom Bombadil]]'' by [[J.R.R. Tolkien]]. It concerns the ''[[Mewlips]]'', an imaginary race of evil creatures. The poem describes the long and lonely road needed to reach the Mewlips, travelling beyond the [[Merlock Mountains]], and through the marsh of [[Tode]] and the wood of "hanging trees and [[Gallows-Weed]]". None of these places appear on any of the maps.

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There is also a mention, in the same poem, of ''[[gorcrows]]'', creatures who croak in their sleep; nothing more is said of them.<ref name="Mewlips">{{AB|Mewlips}}</ref>

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"The Mewlips" was a rewrite of an earlier of Tolkien's poems, "[[Knocking at the Door]]", which was published in ''[[The Oxford Magazine]]'', vol. 55, no. 13 (18 February 1937).<ref>{{CG|RG}}. p. 586</ref>

==The Poem==

==The Poem==

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Line 26:

Over the Merlock Mountains a long and weary way,

Over the Merlock Mountains a long and weary way,

In a mouldy valley where the trees are grey,

In a mouldy valley where the trees are grey,

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By a dark pool´s borders without wind or tide,

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By a dark pool's borders without wind or tide,

Moonless and sunless, the Mewlips hide.

Moonless and sunless, the Mewlips hide.

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Line 41:

They peep out slyly; through a crack

They peep out slyly; through a crack

Their feeling fingers creep,

Their feeling fingers creep,

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And when they´ve finished, in a sack

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And when they've finished, in a sack

Your bones they take to keep.

Your bones they take to keep.

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Line 47:

Through the spider-shadows and the marsh of Tode,

Through the spider-shadows and the marsh of Tode,

And through the wood of hanging trees and gallows-weed,

And through the wood of hanging trees and gallows-weed,

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You go to find the Mewlips - and the Mewlips feed.

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You go to find the Mewlips - and the Mewlips feed.<ref name="Mewlips"/>

</poem>

</poem>

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==Adaptation==

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In 2008, Richard Svensson released a stop-animation version of "The Mewlips", with accompanying music by [[Colin Rudd]].

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{{#ev: youtube|w6ntMbUEjf0}}

==See also==

==See also==

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* [[Poems by J.R.R. Tolkien]]

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* [[Index:Poems by J.R.R. Tolkien|Poems by J.R.R. Tolkien]]

*''[[The Adventures of Tom Bombadil]]''

*''[[The Adventures of Tom Bombadil]]''

==External links==

==External links==

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* [http://users.cybercity.dk/~bkb1782/tolkien/mewlips.html Speculation on the location of the Mewlips]

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*[http://www.magiclantern.blip.tv/file/181201/ Film of the poem made by pupils from Needham Market Middle school and Ringshall Primary]

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*[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w6ntMbUEjf0 Film of the poem made by Richard Svensson, featuring music by Colin John Rudd]

Contents

The Poem

The Shadows where the Mewlips dwell
Are dark and wet as ink,
And slow and softly rings their bell,
As in the slime you sink.

You sink into the slime, who dare
To knock upon their door,
While down the grinning gargoyles stare
And noisome waters pour.

Beside the rotting river-strand
The drooping willows weep,
And gloomily the gorcrows stand
Croaking in their sleep.

Over the Merlock Mountains a long and weary way,
In a mouldy valley where the trees are grey,
By a dark pool's borders without wind or tide,
Moonless and sunless, the Mewlips hide.

The cellars where the Mewlips sit
Are deep and dank and cold
With single sickly candle lit;
And there they count their gold.

Their walls are wet, their ceilings drip;
Their feet upon the floor
Go softly with a squish-flap-flip,
As they sidle to the door.

They peep out slyly; through a crack
Their feeling fingers creep,
And when they've finished, in a sack
Your bones they take to keep.

Beyond the Merlock Mountains, a long and lonely road,
Through the spider-shadows and the marsh of Tode,
And through the wood of hanging trees and gallows-weed,
You go to find the Mewlips - and the Mewlips feed.[1]

Adaptation

In 2008, Richard Svensson released a stop-animation version of "The Mewlips", with accompanying music by Colin Rudd.